


Happy

by heartofawriter



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Josie's an angst filled teen, Myles McCoy sucks, Sierra's precious okay, Tierra's my life okay they're great, but it gets better, not explicitly relevant but included bc I hate him, starts kinda sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 06:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15989123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartofawriter/pseuds/heartofawriter
Summary: At the end of the day, all she wanted really was for Sierra to be happy.If her happiness came in the form of Tom Keller, who was she to get in the way?





	Happy

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little oneshot based on a deleted scene of Sierra, Josie, and Reggie, which I highly recommend if you haven’t seen it. I will include a link if you would like to watch it.
> 
> https://twitter.com/ParentdaleDaily/status/1026858775720779777

The atmosphere was tense once the front door closed behind Reggie. Josie still sat in silence with her arms crossed over her chest while her mother stood next to the sofa, trying her best not to completely lose her temper like the teen no doubt wanted her to. She’d been trying to goad Sierra into a fight for days, and the former mayor refused to let her.

 

“Why are you so dead set on fighting with me, Josephine?” she finally asked. “What do you think you’re going to accomplish from the two of us screaming at each other?” Josie remained silent, glaring in the other direction and keeping her jaw set.

 

She didn’t really  _ want _ to fight with her mother. In fact, she hated fighting with her. But she just didn’t know how to do anything else with her right now. She was angry. Angrier than she could ever remember being, and she’d had plenty of instances of being angry. Even her father’s constant dismissals of her and her music had never made her as angry as she was about her mother’s affair. Sure, her parents’ marriage wasn’t great, but was it really so terrible that her mother felt like she could  _ justify _ cheating? And with Sheriff Keller? The man’s wife was  _ serving overseas _ for God’s sake.

 

“Well I’m sorry that I don’t want pretend everything’s fine and that I’m totally okay with my mother being a homewrecking harlot!” she finally snapped.

 

“That is not fair, and you know it!”

 

“Oh yeah? And why not, huh? Because you both consented? Because your marriage isn’t perfect? Because his wife isn’t here? How can you possibly justify  _ sleeping with another woman’s husband _ ?!”

 

“It’s complicated! And I don’t expect you to understand, you’re only a child!”

 

“I am  _ not _ a child! I am almost seventeen years old, and I  _ understand _ that cheating on your spouse is never okay,  _ especially _ when the person you’re cheating with is  _ also _ married!”

 

“It’s just  _ complicated _ , Josie! There are things you don’t know, things you  _ don’t _ understand!”

 

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.” Josie scoffed, shaking her head.

 

“Why do you feel the need to be so stubborn and juvenile about this?” Sierra asked, her tone laced with frustration. Josie stood up, facing her mother with a sneer on her face.

 

“I don’t know, maybe the same reason you feel the need to be a raging  _ bitch _ all the time.”

 

The slap happened so fast, Josie wasn’t sure she even felt it at first. She stood there with an expression of shock that mirrored the one on her mother’s face. Her cheek began to sting, and she slowly raised her hand to cover it. Sierra had never raised a hand to her before. And although it had seemed to shock the former mayor just as much as Josie, she didn’t try to apologize. She just looked away, though not in time for Josie to miss the telltale shine of tears in the older woman’s eyes.

 

“Go to your room.” Sierra’s voice was quiet but brooked no argument, and Josie found that all she could do was walk by her mother towards her bedroom, still in shock with her hand on her cheek. She went into her room and shut the door almost mechanically, still not completely registering everything that had just taken place. She moved over to her bed, lying down and staring blankly at the wall. She wasn’t sure how much time passed before she fell asleep, waking up to pale beams of moonlight streaming through her window.

 

She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes as the night’s events came back to her. Her cheek still held a dull sting, and she stood up with the intent to go out and get some water and sleeping pills to help her get back to sleep when she heard quiet voices out in the living room. She opened her bedroom door in slight confusion that changed to annoyance and anger when she spotted the former sheriff sitting next to Sierra on the sofa. Her mother had her legs pulled up beside her with her arm resting on the back of the sofa, and Tom was running his fingers soothingly up and down that arm. Josie wanted to storm out and yell at them, to call her mother a hypocrite, but instead she simply stepped out to stand in a corner and listen.

 

“You didn’t have to come over.” Sierra was saying softly.

 

“You were upset.” the former sheriff replied as if that explained everything. And for him, it did. He hated when Sierra was upset, and he’d made a promise to her that she would never be alone again when she needed comfort, a promise he intended to keep.

 

“It’s nothing new. The same argument we’ve been having for over a week now.” Josie rolled her eyes, mostly because the statement was true. They had been arguing about Sierra’s affair ever since Josie had discovered that her parents would truly be divorcing.

 

“She’ll come around, kitten.” Josie frowned from her spot around the corner. She had never heard her father call her mother by any kind of pet name before, and it felt strange to hear the older woman’s lover call her by one.

 

“I hope so.” Her mother’s voice was soft and tired, and the smile she sent to the former sheriff was weak. “You still sure you want to be involved with this craziness?”

 

“I’m not going anywhere.” The teen watched as he pushed her mother’s hair out of her face. “I love you.” The transformation of Sierra’s expression was mesmerizing to watch. Her eyes lit up, and her smile brightened to the point Josie almost actually started to worry that she would blind the man in front of her.

 

“I love you too.” Josie cringed and turned away when they kissed, though she was starting to feel a bit bad about the things she’d said to her mother when the woman was so clearly happy with the former sheriff.

 

“You know…” She finally looked back at the adults when she heard Tom’s voice again. “Have you thought about just telling her? Maybe it would help.”

 

“I really don’t think she’d believe me.”

 

“You never know until you try.”

 

_ Believe what? _ Josie wondered, furrowing her brow before starting to get angry again. What  _ else _ could her mother possibly be hiding from her?

 

“I don’t know that I can just look at my daughter and tell her that her father’s cheated on me for years. You know she idolizes him.”

 

“Yeah, well, she’s been idolizing the wrong parent. She deserves to know, Sierra.” Josie could feel the shock that spread over her face. She had to be dreaming. There was no way that this conversation was occurring. Her father had cheated on her mother first? And her mother had only just decided to do the same a few months ago? She felt like throwing up.

 

“She’ll just say it doesn’t justify anything, which I can kind of see her point there. You’re still married.”

 

“To a lesbian. Who asked for a divorce before we even started seeing each other. And you can tell Josie that too. You haven’t done anything that she needs to be angry with you for.”

 

“I will think about it.” Sierra looked at the clock on the wall before looking back at him with a little smile. “You should get home before Kevin realizes you’re gone.”

 

Josie stopped listening then, leaning against the wall and resting her head against it. What was she supposed to do with all this new information? Was she supposed to forgive her mother? Hate her father? Completely ignore it all? It was all making her head hurt, and she knew even sleeping pills were not going to help her sleep now. The only thing she knew she could even  _ try _ to do to make her head stop spinning was talk to her mother. She sighed quietly to herself, chancing a glance around the corner. Sierra was just closing the door behind Tom, leaning her forehead against it for a moment before turning around to go back to the living room. Taking a deep breath, Josie stepped out from behind her corner.

 

“Mom?” Sierra looked up, surprise washing over her features.

 

“Josie...what are you doing up? It’s nearly three in the morning.”

 

“I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep.” Josie replied quietly, shuffling forward a little. Her mother started to look a little uneasy then before a look of defeat took over.

 

“How much did you hear?” she sighed.

 

“Enough. Why didn’t you tell me about dad?”

 

“Would you have believed me?” her mother asked pointedly. The teen felt a slight wave of guilt fall over her as she acknowledged within her own mind that, no, she likely would not have believed her.

 

“No.” she admitted. “I’m sorry.”

 

“You don’t have to be sorry. I know how you feel about your father.”

 

“Well...it looks like Sheriff Keller’s right...I’ve been idolizing the wrong parent.” Josie replied softly. “Mom, I’m really sorry. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you and dad say you love each other, and I’ve never seen you as happy as you looked when Sheriff Keller said he loved you.” Sierra looked down, unable to hide her small smile.

 

“He makes me very happy.” she said softly.

 

“I know.” her daughter sighed. “You should’ve just explained all this to me...dad cheating, Mrs. Keller being a lesbian...I wouldn’t have believed you at first, I admit that, but I eventually would’ve done some snooping and found out it was true.”

 

“I should have. I guess I just...wanted to have that kind of happiness to myself for awhile. You know, we were just friends in the beginning, and I mean that. We didn’t really...start to develop feelings until  _ after _ Ava asked him for a divorce. He came to me for support, and I was there for him, and we just started to grow closer after that until it developed into what it is now. It was something beautiful, something powerful and intoxicating, something I hadn’t felt in a very long time. And I didn’t want to share it with anyone else. But that wasn’t fair to you or to Kevin, and I”m sorry.” Josie bit her lip, stepping forward a bit to take her mother’s hands.

 

“I do want you to be happy, mom. Really.” she said softly. “It’ll take some getting used to...but I’ll try to get on board. I promise.” Sierra’s smile was weak but happy.

 

“Thank you, baby. And I promise no more secrets.” Josie sent her an equally weak smile before hugging the older woman. At the end of the day, all she wanted really was for Sierra to be happy.

 

If her happiness came in the form of Tom Keller, who was she to get in the way?


End file.
